I was on the phone with a co worker just now and we were discussing a customer that is a Catholic School. The customer is having trouble paying and the co worker says she doesn't want to upset the nuns. So I relay to the customer that I went to catholic was taught by nuns and that a few of them were from Ireland. I left that jr high school almost 20 years ago and it never occured to me until just then on the phone how unique and special an experience that was. All I could think about as a kid was that I hated those old prudes. I never appreciated the fact that they had experience of a whole other world to teach me, not only were they from Ireland, they were old, so they really were from a different world. Not to mention the fact that they taught kids at the little catholic school in Houston's Kashmere Gardens, I never realized the sacrafice and the commitment they made in their lives, to their religion and profession. It has really hit me like a ton of bricks, but its just no way to know that as a kid unless you are an extremely mature kid or a kid who has seen alot yourself.
Good point. Kids are often too busy making fun of everything because it's the cool thing to do, and is encouraged by society. For example, if you go to Catholic school, it's almost a requirement that you hate the nuns, the uniforms, etc., and try your best not to let them instill their values in you. I was one of those kids who usually weren't mean and sarcastic as their peers wanted them to be (apparently still true for me ) so I tried to catch up. I appreciate now the job that teachers have, and I like to hear my family stories. When I was young it all bored me; now I go around trying to find out about our history from the relatives I have left. My fiance says for a lot of people including himself, if it weren't for hard or traumatic events they might not have matured in their thinking for a long time even as adults.
I'll tell you the one thing I didn't appreciate as a kid was just that.....being a kid. Think about it; no bills, 4 months of vacation per year, maybe 5 hours of school work per day, eat, sleep, and sh!+, etc. I miss the good ole days.
RELATIVITY. None of us appreciates all the fun things you can do with a box or our own imaginations anymore either. You will never fully appreciate everything in life.
No responsibility, whatsoever. It's ok to play with toys...to chase around animals Easier to keep off extra pounds Being overly creative and imaginative Not having to pay alimony to anybody
Well, I would think we're all guilty of some underappreciation of things growing up...Granted, kids nowadays have so much more access to things, good and bad... I try like hell to keep my kids grounded and teach them how lucky we are for the things we have and get to do...It is definitely a losing battle...
When I was 7, I thought my dad knew everything. When I was 14, I thought my dad knew nothing. When I turned 21, I was amazed how much the old man had learned in 7 years. -Mark Twain
Army brat here. I didn't appreciate the different places I have lived. Example: Kakazu Ridge on Okinawa. I could look out my bedroom window and see the village far below fronting a beautiful bay that was part of a huge horizon. All I thought of was, "crap, gotta hike down just to catch a bus". If I was a photographer right out of the womb...my oh my.
Near limitless free time. The days after getting home from school seemed so long. It seemed like I could shoot hoops for hours, watch a couple episodes of The Simpsons while I finished homework, go play with friends, play a little PS1, then watch Star Wars all in one night. Reading (I say this one for more around junior high/high school. I never wanted to read books unless they were assigned for school. Now there are so many awesome books that I want to read).
I now have to baby-sit my sister, and it occurred to me that she was going through the same phase I was just 5 years ago, and how differently I viewed the world for instance, when I was 10, 20 dollars was a huge amount (and I mean Hong Kong dollars) for me, since I never needed to spend it anywhere other than the tuck shop. Academics, now I look back, I was never very concentrated on them, although I can't think why. The news and newspapers, never appreciated them as a kid. Not sports either, was always a lazy and fat kid, now I love sports. Veggies, never appreciated how healthy they really were. And above all, common sense.
